I just got off the phone with a long time client who has been struggling as an Internet marketer for years. I’ve understood why he struggles, for a while now, and I know based on conversations with many others, that he’s not the only one who struggles with distraction.
In fact, if we look at the global average for failure in this industry (97%) I’m willing to bet that a large percentage (of that 97%) can be attributed to distraction. Unfortunately, as most Internet marketers experience the hard way, the grass isn’t usually greener on the other side of the fence, once they get there. Sure, it might look fresh and shiny when things aren’t going as fast as they should on one side, but once the move has been made, people find that it’s usually the same thing or very similar.
The Internet marketing scene moves at a pace second only to the speed of light 
!! If you think about feeds and how fast they move, traffic exchanges, safe lists, ad exchanges and so forth, they are all getting hit with such a large traffic volume that it makes your head spin. What’s worse is the fact that people, who are trying to focus on building their business, get sucked into the vortex with flashy promises of dollar bills that lead them to believe that making a change will bring about results much faster than what their current opportunity is producing.
We live in an instant gratification based society, especially in the United States. We want what we want or need and we want it now. This mentality holds much of the responsibility in the current financial crisis in the U.S. and around the world today.
The majority of the world is hypnotized by money! It happens in casinos, world wide, everyday. Unfortunately, the Internet marketing industry isn’t a whole lot different. When surfing traffic exchanges, for example, they can have the same hypnotic effect on you as would a slot machine. You sit there and watch as your time and/or money vanishes penny by penny and second by second.
There are many points of wisdom that my father has shared with me, over the years, that I still use to help mold who I am to this day. One of those points of wisdom says “Son, be careful with your money… you can nickel and dime yourself to death.” The same thing can be said of your time as well. Distractions cause us to take action without thinking. We use “sales” and “discounts” as excuses for spending money under the guise of “savings” when the truth rests in the fact that we would have saved more had we not spent money or time on something we didn’t actually need.
Distractions come at us from many angles as an Internet marketer. We have to deal with distraction every time we log in to Facebook, Twitter or any other resource with a live feed. We have to deal with distractions while surfing for credits on traffic exchanges or credit based safelists. We have to deal with the distraction caused by advertising when posting ads. Distractions are everywhere.
The key to dealing with this is determining to deal with it… setting your mind in such a way that you become hardened to the distraction. It requires discipline, focus and undying desire TO DO what you need TO DO to build your business. What everyone else is doing doesn’t matter. You must learn to discern, quickly, what you can use to your benefit (information) and what needs to be discarded.
For example, if I log into Facebook to update the groups I belong to… I DO THAT! I don’t go feed my fish in Happy Aquarium, harvest duck eggs in FarmVille, or hire a hit on one of my friends in MobWars. If I logged into Facebook to work my business, then I stick to that plan! I don’t take five minutes to go try to outscore my kids on Bejeweled Blitz. Those of you who have played Bejeweled Blitz know that five minutes turns into a half an hour in less than 10 minutes… !!
There’s nothing wrong with playing games but if you are going to do that then manage and plan the time to do that. When it’s time to work… WORK! “… the thing is settled, the die is cast, you have determined it, there is no room for argument.”
There isn’t a magic potion to keep you focused on what you SHOULD be doing to stay on point. It’s a matter of determining what you are going to do. Determine to focus on one thing… and even if someone knocks on your door and offers you a million dollars, you stay on point and do what you set out to do. You can’t react each time something shiny catches your eye. You have to program yourself to ignore those distractions and move forward with your mission.
A great resource for getting focused and staying on point is The Master Key System by Charles Haanel. If you’ve followed my blogs for any length of time then you’ve heard me talk about this before. Before anything else in life is going to change, you have to get your mind right. The Master Key System is the ULTIMATE mind workout. MKS will get your mind in shape and give you the mental strength to stay laser focused. You can get the Master Key System, free, on mp3 audio by clicking here.
Something else that you should take into consideration, when it comes to staying focused, is your diet and physical health. I’ve invested a lot of time paying attention to some of the great minds in this industry… Mike Dillard, Frank Kern and a couple of others who I have mad respect for. Most of them will agree with me when I say, “If you are going to be successful in life and business then it takes more than just mechanics. It requires balance. That balance consists of a sound mind, a health body and a peaceful spirit.” A mind that wanders aimlessly is easily distracted. An unhealthy body is undisciplined and lacks focus. A chaotic spirit leads to worry, stress, anxiety and depression. Lack of balance leads to distraction. All of the above leads to fatigue which leads to laziness and lack of motivation. Therefore, healthy and fit mind, body and spirit are vital to staying focused and successful in whatever you do!
Taking action with this information may require a couple of minor tweaks on your part. Or, as was my case not so long ago, it may require a complete overhaul. Whatever it takes, do it! Don’t make excuses, just do what needs to be done to get on track, get focused and stay determined! Focus on your purpose, take action and kick the distractions out of your way each time they catch your eye.
… and to quote my good buddy Mr. Bill (a.k.a. Bill Rowe) “Why not stop chasing that dream and actually start working to achieve it?”
Cheers!
Rex
April 13th, 2010 
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